Disclaimer: I don't own anything!
Author's Note: Got the inspiration for this when I was reading Inkdeath and Mo talks about the White Women.
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The friend who holds your hand and says the wrong thing is made of dearer stuff than the one who stays away. ~Barbara Kingsolver
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Kratos volunteered for the night watch most nights these days. He was suffering a little for it—he'd always been fond of his sleep—but that wasn't the point right now. The point was that Yuan couldn't sleep. And not in the normal way, where it was just restlessness or dreams of the future.
Some nights, Yuan woke up screaming.
Martel and Mithos startled awake those nights, but Kratos always assured Martel that he'd take care of him, that they should go back to sleep. And Kratos would gently shake Yuan awake, trying to shush his nightmares away.
"I can still feel it, Kratos." Yuan said quietly, arms wrapped around his knees and forehead resting on his kneecaps. "All that water…and, I couldn't breathe…"
Kratos wrapped his arms around him, not sure what else to do. He's sure that Martel would be better at this comforting thing, but this wasn't hers to take care of. This was them, Kratos-and-Yuan and they'd been taking care of each other a long time before the ship and the storm.
"…You weren't there." Yuan murmured. "No one was there…and I couldn't see nothing…"
Kratos just held him tighter, pressing his nose to Yuan's hair. And no, they weren't exactly clean and Yuan's hair smelled of sea salt and sweat and dirt, but it's Yuan and nothing would've made Kratos pull away.
"I don't want that to happen again, Kratos. Don't wanna be alone."
"You're not." Kratos said firmly.
"…Water hurts. Did you know that, Kratos? And it's really heavy." Yuan paused, trying to find words for his thoughts. "…It's full of longing." Kratos stared at him then and Yuan's shoulders shrugged. "It is. And then when it fills you up, then you're full of longing and all you want is to listen to it and follow it down, no matter where it takes you."
It sounded horrible, but Kratos knew that telling Yuan that wouldn't help. Instead, he said, "No more alcohol for you."
That made Yuan laugh and that sound let Kratos know that his friend was going to be okay. Maybe not right now, maybe not soon, but eventually, Yuan would be alright again.